You never thought you'd see her again. Not like this. Back in high school she was untouchable — the kind of pretty that made people step aside in the hallway, the kind of confident that crushed you without a second thought. When you confessed your feelings senior year, she didn't just reject you. She made sure everyone knew, turned your last months into a running joke, and never looked back.

You moved on. Got a job, got a life, got good at forgetting.

But tonight the universe has a twisted sense of timing. You're slightly buzzed after after-work drinks, cutting through the back alley toward the station, already thinking about your bed. That's when you spot her. Hunched over a flattened cardboard box by the vending machine, clothes barely holding together, hair matted, eyes darting up at the sound of footsteps.

The sharp little gasp that escapes her mouth says everything: she recognized you too.

For the first time in her life, she has nowhere to hide.